Healing Scars
by horseygurl89
Summary: There is a phrase that says "Time heals all wounds" but not all wounds are physical, but many are deep. Inuyasha and Kagome have their fair share of scars, but can they heal each other?
1. Pain

**AN:** Ok everybody here is my first attempt at a multi-chapter fanfiction! The first few chapters are going to be pretty short but they seem to get longer the more into the story I get. I have about half of this written right now, so at first updates will be quick. I will be switching back and forth between POVs. Its up to you to figure out who is speaking. If it becomes too confusing let me know and I will change it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not and never will own Inuyasha and Co. I can only kidnapp them for a while and bend them to my insane plot bunny ideas before I have to regretfully give them back.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 1: Pain**

"Kagome!"

That was the last sound that I heard before the pain. Intense, mind-numbing pain that ripped across my left shoulder and down my back. Falling, I watched the stunned expression on Inuyasha's face turn into one of complete fury, his lips were moving but I couldn't hear him. In fact, I couldn't hear anything. Not the roar of the demon that had kidnapped me, nor the concerned shouts of Sango, Miroku and Shippo, or the swoosh of the Tetsusaiga as it slashed the demon standing above me in half.

"Kagome!"

I blinked slowly as Inuyasha's face abruptly appeared in front of me. I had to focus hard, my vision was fading rapidly. Already the blackness was creeping across my eyes.

"Kagome, can you hear me?" his voice was softer now, but there was an edge of panic starting to seep into it. I knew I had to put his fears at ease. I was fine; he had saved me the way he always does. Why was he worried?

"Inu…yasha…" my voice was weak, barely above a whisper. But still with his hanyou hearing I know he heard me. Then the blessed blackness took over completely and I felt my body go limp.

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**AN2:** Yeah see I told you they would be short at first. trust me they do get longer! So tell me what you think! R&R!


	2. Worry

**AN:** Onward with the story!

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 2: Worry**

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted. He had to resist the urge to shake her back to consciousness. He growled low in his throat as the smell of her blood seemed to permeate the air around them. There was too much blood, way too much to be good for a human.

"Inuyasha! We gotta get out of here, before Kagome draws other demons by her blood!" Miroku said, glancing around and tightening his grip on his staff. "We can check her wounds later, once we are out of danger."

Inuyasha nodded and gently gathered the passed out girl into his arms. He cradled her against his chest and stood surveying the damage of the battle. The demon that had managed to get a shard of the Shikon Jewel was dead, cleaved in two in front of Kagome. Shippo was rummaging around in the carcass, suddenly popping up with a cry of success, holding the shard of the jewel. Shippo runs over and climbs up Inuyasha and grabs the bottle necklace where Kagome keeps the shards.

"Here," he said, popping the top and adding the newest addition, "she is going to want this."

Sango was fine and was ready to go on top of Kirara. Miroku was standing next to them, keeping an eye on the surrounding woods, in case of a surprise attack.

"All right," said Inuyasha, "We need to head back to Kaede's. She can heal Kagome. These wounds are beyond my ability to treat."

"Will she make it that far?" asks Sango worriedly. She is gazing at Kagome, who was growing paler by the minute and at the drops of blood that were rapidly soaking the ground and Inuyasha's sleeve. "It's at least a two day journey to the village and that's only if we don't stop."

"Well I guess we aren't stopping then." Inuyasha snarls before taking off into the woods and in the direction of the old miko's village.

"He's crazy," states Shippo, shaking his head as he and Miroku climb aboard Kirara. "I know he didn't sleep last night due to the strong demon aura, and then there was the battle today and now he is going to run for two straight days? He'll collapse. I mean, I know he's strong, but demons, and hanyous like him, run out of energy."

"You never know though, with Inuyasha," mused Miroku, as Kirara climbed into the air and took off after the red blur on the ground that was the running hanyou. "He has a tendency to go a little crazy when Kagome is involved."

"That's true," stated Sango, "Did you see her back though? She was torn up pretty good."

"Well let's just hope for all of our sakes that she makes it," said Miroku, glancing down at the red blur that was Inuyasha. "I would not want to be within 100 miles of him if she dies."

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**AN2:** Well there you go! Kagome is dying and Inuyasha is freaking out! Please R&R!


	3. Time

**AN:** And we keep moving right along!

**Disclaimer:** See Chaper 1.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 3: Time**

"Damnit! Damnit!" I cursed as I practically flew across the ground.

'This is my fault,' I think to myself, dodging another low hanging branch. 'If I hadn't gotten distracted by the Shikon Jewel shard I would have been able to prevent this! It was such an obvious trap and I fell right for it! Baka!'

I let out a stream of curses, I am sure Kagome would have 'sat' me for, but I can't help myself. I am supposed to protect her and now this happens. I didn't want to tell the others, but these wounds are serious. Possibly even life threatening and I know that the only person that has the power to heal her and that I trust is the old miko.

Kagome moans softly, her breath hot against my neck. Any other time that would have had my pulse quickening with desire, but now it just makes me pump my legs harder. Racing against a clock, when I don't know when time up is. I glance down at her pale face, it's scrunched up in pain and beads of sweat are beginning to form on her forehead. I stumble over a tree root in the dark and jostle her, causing her to gasp in shock at the pain that I am sure is rippling through her. I grit my teeth, as another wave of her blood gushes from her back. Suddenly I know that Kaede won't be able to help her, only the more advance medicines and treatments from her time will be able to save her now.

"Damnit! Stay with me Kagome! Don't you dare give up on me! Do you hear me? Keep fighting!" I shout at her, desperate for her to hang in there till I can get to the well and to her time.

I am already tired. I can feel the previous night of no sleep and the battle catching up with me. But I can't stop. I won't allow myself to stop. Not for anything, even if Naraku showed up right now with the secret to killing him. Kagome means more to me than anything…even the Jewel.

"C'mon Inuyasha," I growl at myself, watching day dawn through the trees, "keep going, just a bit further…"

I chance another glance at the girl in my arms. She is even paler now and whimpering, moaning and gasping almost constantly. As long as she is still making noise I have hope. When she falls silent…I shudder, not even wanting to think about that.

'Stay strong Kagome. I need you. I need you more than you will ever know. Your my rock, my guiding light. I don't think I can handle loosing you too.' I think. I hit a break in the trees and glance up to spot Kirara soaring above me. I can make out Miroku's and Sango's faces; they are staring back at me. I see all my fears written in every line of their face.

I set my jaw, eyes hardening, 'NO! I will not fail her! She trusts me with her life. I will make it!'

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AN2:

So what do you guys think? Was it any good? Inuyasha is hard to write sometimes, since he has trouble voicing his feelings. Please R&R! 


	4. Watching

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 4: Watching  
**

Miroku, Sango and Shippo took turns throughout the night and the next day, keeping a watch on Inuyasha. Thankfully this was an easy task since they had hit a large plain and Inuyasha's clothes were easy to spot against the green backdrop. It was nearing evening on the second day of travel and still Inuyasha was running. As far as Sango and Miroku could tell, he had not slowed down or missed a step, but Shippo, being the full demon that he was, had keener eyesight than them and could see the signs of fatigue that was starting to plague the hanyou.

Shippo shook his head and quietly marveled at Inuyasha's strength. "He's tired. I know you can't see it, but he isn't running as fast as he was earlier. He's also gasping for breath. He doesn't have that much more energy left."

"I know," murmured Miroku, "but what can we do? It's not as though he's going to stop."

Sango, who had been staring ahead, suddenly gasped.

"What? What is it Sango?" said Miroku, instantly alert despite his own fatigue.

Sango blinked, then blinked again, before furiously rubbed her eyes, then staring again.

"I don't believe it," she murmured.

"What?" chorused Miroku and Shippo together.

"Isn't that Inuyasha's forest?" she said pointing ahead and to the left.

Miroku and Shippo stared in disbelief as what was undeniably Inuyasha's forest came into view. They had made it in record time. Miroku looked down, planning to shout the good news to Inuyasha, but he had disappeared.

"Wait! Where did Inuyasha go?" shouted Miroku, as he frantically began searching the ground for any sign of their hanyou friend.

"There!" shouted Sango, pointing ahead.

It seemed as though Inuyasha had also noticed the surroundings and had somehow found another gear.

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**AN:** Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Please R&R!


	5. Blackness

**AN:** Ok guys things are finally getting interesting huh? This chapter for whatever reason was difficult for me to write. I think I edited it about 10 times before I got it to a point that I liked it.

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1

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**Healing Scars **

**Chapter 5: Blackness  
**

I feel like my legs are going to fall off. But somehow I am still moving forward. I have lost all track of time, solely focused on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping an ear tuned to Kagome's breathing. It has gotten more labored. She is now panting and is soaked in her own sweat. She has lost too much blood. I can feel where it has soaked my sleeve through and has then dried. My own slight wounds from the battle, that normally I wouldn't even notice, I feel with each step I take. I am so tired and my vision is getting blurred.

I know I don't have a lot of time before this body gives out. What is not helping me is that tonight is the night of the new moon. The one cursed night of the month where my demon powers are completely stripped away and I am turned into a mere mortal. If I don't make it to Kagome's time before I transform then I will be sentencing her to death.

'NO!' I shake my head, desperately trying to clear it. 'I have to keep going, I have to save her!' Suddenly a smell washes over me, it's, it's, it's the smell of home! Or at least the closest thing I call to a home, my forest. Right then, Kagome shudders and falls silently and if even possible goes more limp in my arms.

'NO!' My mind screams, 'not now, not yet, just a bit further, hang in there Kagome…'

My legs find another gear, and I am streaking through the trees that I know so well. I almost miss my turn, but manage to stay upright as I hurdle around a tree and set my sights on the Bone Eaters Well. I can hear Miroku shouting at me, but I don't stop.

'Can't they see,' my mind screams, 'She's dying! I don't have time to talk!'

Without slowing my stride, I take a leap and disappear into the well. As I fall I can feel the force of the time slip, or whatever bit of magic that connects my world to hers, seize me, like being sucked through a tube. As quickly as it happens, I land on the other side. Barely pausing to clear my head, I force my exhausted legs to push my body and Kagome's out of the well. Somehow I manage to shoulder open the door to the well house and find myself staring into the evening sky five hundred years in the future at the Higurashi family shrine.

I am looking frantically around for a member of her family, anyone that can help me, when I spot her mother moving in the kitchen window.

"Mrs. Higurashi! Mrs. Higurashi!" I scream, pelting for the door. I can feel the transformation beginning. Already my hearing has been reduced to that of a normal human; I can feel my claws shrinking, and the canines receding in my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of black hair, meaning that my transformation is almost complete.

I can see that she looks up, startled by my shout, but then her face goes as pale as her daughter's when she sees what I am carrying. I feel my body giving in to its exhaustion. My legs refuse to move another step and I collapse to my knees, still cradling Kagome's body to my chest. Looking up through the blackness that is stealing my vision, I see Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome's grandfather running towards us. I know they are shouting, I can see their lips moving but no sound reaches my ears. Just as they reach me, prying my fingers from her body, my world fades to black.

I had made it, but was I too late?

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**AN2:** Oooo...a cliffhanger! Ha! I am so evil! This is where I leave you my dear readers for now. If you all like it and want me to continue then you have to let me know by reviewing!


	6. Waiting

**AN:** Ok my apologies for taking a while to update! I fully planned to have this out by Friday but life got in the way. So here is the next chapter. I apologize for it being so short, I promise they do get longer! So if you all could just hang with me for a little bit longer...

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 6: Waiting**

"He took her down the well?" Kaede asks frowning, peering down into the infinite blackness.

"Yes. But the last we had heard he had planned to bring her to you in the village to see to her wounds." Miroku says also staring down into the depths.

"Something must have changed about her condition then, if he didn't believe that I could help her," murmurs Kaede.

She sighs and turns from the well and begins heading back down the path towards the village.

"There is nothing we can do now, except wait for their return. Come down to the village and I will treat you all to a hot supper."

Miroku and Sango share a look, both knowing that something serious indeed would have had to change for Inuyasha to voluntarily take Kagome home. Nodding their heads in silent agreement that they will not say anything to Kaede or Shippo until Inuyasha returned they turn their backs to the well and follow Kaede.

Glancing over her shoulder, Sango calls to the young kitsune, who is still looking at the well, "Come, Shippo. They are beyond our reach now; there is nothing we can do. When Kagome is better she will return to us."

Shippo nods dejectedly and wiping the tears from his eyes, too turns and follows his pack towards the village.

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**AN2:** Ok folks there is the next chapter! Chapter 7 coming soon! Please R&R!


	7. Hospital

**AN:** Hey look its a long chapter! Over 5,500 words! Go me!

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 7: Hospital  
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It's was the weirdest sensation. I felt so heavy, like my body was suddenly made of lead but my head was so light. My brain felt like it was swimming. I scrunch up my eyes, trying to get the feeling to go away, when my hearing decided to come rushing back at me. A barrage of sound greets me. The near silent sounds of machines whirring and the steady beeping of another, along with louder sounds of people talking and footsteps striking the floor. I can tell that the room is dark even through my eyelids. There is a smell to the air of medicine and antiseptic.

'A hospital? How on earth did I end up in a hospital?' I frown trying to piece things together but my brain is so fuzzy that it takes me a minute to realize that someone is calling my name.

"Kagome?" the voice is questioning, uncertain, but familiar to me. "Kagome, are you awake?"

'Oh! That's HIS voice!' my brain starts working faster, 'I need to let him know that I am awake! I need to see him! I need to let him know that he had saved me, the way he always does.'

Despite the fact that my eyelids feel like they weigh twenty pounds each, I slowly am able to raise them. Blinking twice to focus my blurry vision I am greeted with the incredibly worried face of Inuyasha.

He's face is only inches from mine. I can see every eyelash; name all the colors that make up his swirling violet eyes.

Wait…violet?

"Inu…yasha…"my voice is hoarse, barely above a whisper. I don't know how he heard it, but his face relaxes and he moves back away from me. I can now see his whole torso and note the human ears and the lack of claws or fangs. He runs a hand a hand through his midnight black hair and I am startled to notice that it is shaking slightly.

"Kagome," he breathes, "thank Kami you're all right."

I manage to crank my lips up into what maybe resembled a smile. Apparently I got my point across because his eyes soften and he rewards me with one of his actual smiles. Not his famous smirk but a real smile. I feel my heart miss a beat. He was handsome anyways, either as a hanyou or human, but when he smiled…well you get the idea.

"Kagome." His voice was soft and he gently pushes my bangs out of my face. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright. I have felt better, but I'm ok." I whisper back, still staring into hypnotic eyes. I feel like a mouse cornered by a snake. I can't blink, I can't turn away, but I have to admit to myself, I don't think I would mind getting caught.

I start to sit up, but his hands are at my shoulders gently but firmly holding me in place.

"Don't move, you will reopen your stitches," he whispers.

'Stitches?'

I nod showing that I understand and once again he moves back from me. I now notice that he is perched on the edge of a chair that has been pulled up to the side of my bed. I glance around me, taking in the room. Yes, I am definitely in a hospital. To my right is the door and an I.V stand with a couple of different bags hanging on it. One is red and looks suspiciously like blood.

I blink, staring at it. 'A blood transfusion?' I wonder. To my left is Inuyasha and a heart rate machine. So that explains the gentle beeping. Behind Inuyasha is a small couch that is currently a bed for my little brother, Sota, who is passed out asleep.

I turn my gaze back to Inuyasha who is watching me like I might fall apart at any moment. I want to ask him so many questions, but when I open my mouth what comes out is,

"Why are you here?"

His face falls and a look of hurt passes across his features. I stare at him, horrified that I said that and quickly cut him off before he can start getting angry.

"No, sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I meant what are you doing here looking like that?" I gesture with my eyes to his human form.

He scowls at me, "Hey at least I blend in better, don't have to wear that stupid hat now do I? I am here because I just saved your fucking life!"

He glares at me, and I just stare back at him blankly. 'He had to save my life by bringing me here? When he was mortal? He brought me home?'

Noticing my blank face his whole annoyed expression just melts off him. He stares at me, concern shinning in his eyes.

"Kagome? Don't you remember what happened?" he asks cautiously.

"I remember we were looking for jewel shards and that a bear demon showed up and…" my voice trails off, eyes widening as I see the whole battle replay in my mind. "I was attacked," I finish quietly. I glance up at him for confirmation.

He grimaces, but nods. "Yeah, you're back got ripped up pretty good by that demon, which is dead by the way."

I give him a 'Duh' expression, like I really expected him to let it live after it tried to kill me.

He rolls his eyes at me but continues with the story, "We were all heading back to Kaede's for her to treat your back, but on the way I noticed that you were losing so much blood and I knew that Kaede wouldn't be able to help you, so I brought you home through the well. I dunno what happened after that. When I came through the well I started to transform and the last thing I remember is your mom running up and pulling you out of my arms and then I passed out. The next thing I know I am waking up here." He finishes shrugging.

I nod again, I feel like that is the only thing I can do right now. Suddenly a thought strikes me and my head whips around to stare at Inuyasha. Noticing my intense gaze, he raises an eyebrow at me, clearly questioning.

"Why did you transform? It's not the night of the new moon! Before we got attacked you said that you probably had a couple more days until then."

"It is the night of the new moon, my body doesn't lie Kagome," he stares at me evenly.

"But…" I start.

"You are right; it was two days ago that we got attacked. I ran from the battle site to the well without stopping. We were at least a two day journey from the well when the demon came." He says all of this so calmly, like this was the most natural thing in the world.

"I…Inuyasha, thank you," I stutter out. I realize what that must have cost him. To run that far, directly after a battle, just to try to save my life.

"Feh," he grunts, once again looking annoyed, "Like I am really just going to let you bleed to death."

I crack my lips in a smile and once again glance around the room. My gaze settles on the bag of blood that is steadily dripping into me. I frown at it, but before I can ask, Inuyasha answers my unspoken question.

"They had to give you a lot of blood, in those little bag things. Apparently you lost too much for your body to create naturally so they are giving you some."

"It's called a blood transfusion," I tell him absentmindedly.

"Whatever, I just know I don't like it, it makes you smell funny." He wrinkles his nose for emphasis.

"I thought you couldn't smell that well in this form?" I ask, glancing at him sideways.

He colors and turns his head to the side, suddenly finding the rail of the bed fascinating.

"I can't," He mutters finally, "but I can always smell you."

"Ahh…" I make a noncommittal noise trying to ease his embarrassment. "Where are Mom and Gramps?" I ask, shifting the topic. I think he recognizes the conversation shift for what it was because he faces me once again.

"Outside in the hallway. They are talking to the guy that took care of your back."

"That's right you said I have stitches." I comment, settling further back into the pillows feeling the soreness in my back and the bandages that are wrapped tight around my chest and stomach.

"Yeah, you do, 147 of them." He scowls as he says this, clearly not happy. I am willing to bet that if he had his normal ears they would have been flattened to his head right now.

"Wow, the most I had ever had before was seven and that was in my forehead," I point to a small scar that I know sits right between my eyes, "that was when I was two and jumping on my mom's bed and I slipped and busted my head open on the bedside table."

"Keh, figures you were a klutz as a brat too." He crosses his arms over his chest and I start, seeing that his right sleeve is drenched in dried blood.

'Not just blood,' my mind whispers, 'my blood.'

Inuyasha also seemed to notice the state of his fire rat robes. He huffs and drops his arms into his lap. He raises his eyes and meets my gaze through the fringe of his hair.

"I'm sorry."

Wait, what? Did he just apologize? Ok, who are you and what have you done with my Inuyasha?

"Huh?" Yeah, there is my intelligent response. Baka!

"This is my fault, I am supposed to protect you, but you got hurt…" he is now looking anywhere but at me, he settles for the bland watercolor that is hanging on the wall next to him.

"Inuyasha," I begin, I am pleased to notice that my voice has gotten stronger, "this is hardly your fault. If it's anybody's fault, its mine. I should have been paying closer attention. But it doesn't matter, I AM fine."

Inuyasha opens his mouth, no doubt to argue with me when we are interrupted by mother and grandfather walking back into the room.

"Kagome!" they shout together and the next second I am surrounded by my worried family. Sota, woken up by my mom's shout has also joined the group, climbing up to sit on the bed by my feet. Out of the corner of my eye I see Inuyasha retreat to the other side of the room with the oddest expression on his face.

"Sweetheart, how are you feeling? How long have you been awake? Are you in pain? Can I get you anything?" they asked the questions rapid fire not giving me time to answer even one of them.

"Uh, guys let me breath ok?" I ask, smiling weakly up at them.

"Of course sweetie, sorry you just scared me so badly back at the house. You were so still and pale and Inuyasha! He was covered in blood and then he passed out and his appearance changed! I just didn't know what to do, then I saw your back and I brought you here and they had to cut your clothes off to look at it and the gashes! You needed so many stitches and blood, oh baby I was so worried!" she said all of this very fast, hardly drawing breath.

My eyes darted towards Inuyasha at the mention of the removal of my clothes, his face was turned to the side but I could see the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.

"I'm fine Mom, really I am." I insist as she looks at me worriedly.

"Are you sure?" she is wringing her hands, a sure sign of her nerves.

I reach out and gently pat my mom's hand trying not to notice the tubes that are coming from my arm. "I'm sure, nothing that time and TLC can't fix."

She nods and smiles a tearful smile at me, clasping my hand in hers. My grandfather continues to look concerned but thankfully keeping his mouth shut for now. Part of me wonders if he suspects that I was attacked by a demon.

"Hey Inuyasha," my brother calls over his shoulder to the hanyou. Inuyasha raises his head at the sound of his name and attaches his intense gaze onto the eyes of my brother.

"What is it runt?" he asks, sounding bored, but I can hear how tense he is, part of me wonders if he thinks he will be blamed for bringing me home in this state.

"You took care of the thing that did this to my sister right?"

I and everyone else stare at Sota, surprised. Inuyasha blinks, and then flashes Sota an almost feral smile, one that would have been even scarier if he had had his fangs, cracking his knuckles.

"Keh, of course I dealt with it. You really think I was going to let it live after it did that to your sister?"

Sota shakes his head, smiling, pleased, by the simple but direct answer.

"Hey Momma," I tear my gaze from the hanyou and look over at my mom, "what time is it?"

She glances down at her watch, "Uh, five in the morning dear."

"WHAT!?" I shriek. I can feel my face transcend to horror and panic. I whip my head back around towards Inuyasha, my mouth already open, to tell him to get out of here, to flee, to go back home, back to the well, but he is already on his feet, hands balled into fists at his side, his expression murderous.

"Like hell," he grinds out between clenched teeth.

"But Inuyasha," I plead.

"Are you deaf? I said like hell!" he shouts back, "I am not leaving! In case you have forgotten you almost died! I am not leaving until you are healed!"

"Kagome?" I turn to see the confused faces of my family. They had been watching our argument like a tennis match. "What's going on?" my grandfather asks.

I sigh, and growl under my breath while shooting Inuyasha with the nastiest glare that I could manage. He stares back at me defiant. In retaliation, I narrow my eyes and focus my gaze on the beads that are around his neck. His eyes widen and he cringes and even as he is opening his mouth to protest I say the magic phrase.

"Inuyasha, sit boy!"

CRASH!

The sound of Inuyasha's body slamming into the tile floor is amazingly loud and seems to echo in the room. The brief silence that followed is destroyed by the furious hanyou as he is finally able to raise his head from the floor.

"Bitch! What the hell was that for?" he snarls at me.

"You were being unreasonable," I state primly.

"I? I was being unreasonable? You, you were the one trying to make me leave!"he stutters back, face ablaze in anger.

"Inuyasha," I growl, he cringes and wisely falls silent, still on the floor, watching me warily.

"Kagome, can you explain what is going on?" my gramps, prods gently, clearly wary of my mood.

I groan and bury my face in my hands. I take a couple of calming breaths before I raise my head and look my grandfather in the eyes.

"Every month on the night of the new moon Inuyasha loses his demonic powers. He gets turned into a regular human. Tonight is that night, that is why he looks so different compared to the times that you have seen him before."

I begin ticking off the changes on my fingers, "The most obvious is the hair, silver to black, then the absence of the dog ears, claws and fangs. His eyes also change color, from gold to violet. Plus he doesn't have his superhuman strength or sense of smell. The problem is that when the sun rises he will change back into the half demon that you all are used to seeing, but that will be hard to explain to the people here," I gesture towards the door, "who have seen him like this," I point to the human Inuyasha on the floor, "that he now suddenly has white hair and dog ears. He needs to leave before he changes back, before people spot him in his true form."

"Ohhh," they all say, understanding highlighting their faces.

"And I say I'm not leaving," grumbles Inuyasha, who is gingerly picking himself off the floor.

"And I say you are," I snap back, crossing my arms over my chest feeling the paper thin hospital gown crease under me.

"No I'm not!" he shouts back.

"Uhm, I'm sorry am I interrupting something?" a voice calls from the doorway. Inuyasha and my eyes swivel towards the door. In the heat of our argument we had not heard it open or sensed the addition to the room.

Standing in the doorway was a man about mid-thirties with black hair and piercing blue eyes. He was gazing back and forth between Inuyasha and me, clearly wondering what was going on. I am assuming that he is my doctor based of the white medical coat, always a giveaway, and the blue scrubs that he is wearing. He has a stethoscope hanging around his neck and is holding a clipboard in his hands.

"Uh, no Doctor, you are not interrupting anything," my mother says hurriedly, trying to smooth over the tense atmosphere that has developed in the room.

Inuyasha mutters under his breath something about depending on who you ask but falls silent at my mother's glare. Instead, he takes up a protective position right next to my head.

She turns to me, smiling, "Kagome, this is Dr. Derek Shepherd; he was the E.R. doctor who took care of your back."

"Hi, I'm glad to see that you are finally awake." Dr. Shepherd says, he has a distinctive English accent to his Japanese, "You were out of it for a long time."

I smile up at him, a little bashfully, "Thanks for stitching up my back."

He chuckles, "No problem, that's my job," and sits down on the edge of the bed and takes my hand in his.

Next to me I feel Inuyasha stiffen and a small growl escapes. Dr. Shepherd raises his eyebrows, meeting Inuyasha's steely gaze, it is a look that I have seen greater men back down from, and am surprised to see this modern doctor meeting the gaze squarely.

"Ah, you are the young man who found her, right?" he asks.

Inuyasha nods, eyeing the man with clear distaste, not bothering to dignify him with a response.

"Ok…" Dr. Shepherd says carefully, watching Inuyasha closely, "I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about what happened, I have never seen wounds like these in Japan. In America, yes, but not here, the marks look like a wild animal got to her."

I mentally cringe at the doctor's description of my back. He would never believe just how close he had come to guessing what had attacked me.

"Humph," was Inuyasha's response as he turns away from the doctor but still staying next to me.

"Inuyasha, don't be rude," I say and lay a hand gently on his arm. He looks down at me but refuses to acknowledge the gesture or the doctor.

I sigh and turn back to the doctor who is staring at us. I offer him an embarrassed smile, "Sorry about him, he can be extremely protective of me. He doesn't mean any harm, he just doesn't trust you. I am sure he is grateful for all that you did. He just has trouble showing it."

"I see," Dr. Shepherd says slowly, eyeing Inuyasha. He turns back to me, "No problem then. Do you remember anything? Where you were when you were attacked, or what attacked you?"

"Uhh," I freeze, wracking my brains for a quick but believable story, "I was, uh, walking to the movie theaters, the one on First and Sycamore. I was meeting Inuyasha there for a date." I start speaking quickly more confident in the lie, "I was, uh, running late, so I cut through an alley and something jumped out at me. I think it was a dog, dunno, didn't get a good look at it. And well, I was scared so I started running and I guess I tripped and then it was on me. I think I fainted cause the next thing I remember I am here."

My family is staring at me and I am thankful that the doctor can't see the looks of amazement on their faces; I was never a good liar. But Dr. Shepherd seems to believe my story for he nods and write something down on his clipboard.

"I'll notify the police that there might be a dog loose that is attacking humans," he turns to Inuyasha, "How did you find her?"

"Feh. What else? She was late. I went looking for her," Inuyasha replies, still not looking at the doctor, "When I found her the attack must have just happened," I am staring open mouthed at Inuyasha, amazed at how easily he is following my lie; I quick smooth my face over before the doctor can notice and question me.

"The _dog,_ must have heard me and run off. Kagome wasn't far from her house, so I took her there. I was running cause I was worried and I guess it took more out of me than I thought it would. Kagome's mom told me I passed out right when I got to the house."

I am in complete shock right now. Not only was Inuyasha willingly going along with my lie but was doing a convincing job of it too. He had also explained for him being passed out when they had arrived at the hospital with me. I had winced at the slur on the word 'dog' sure the doctor would have picked up on it, but it seemed he didn't notice.

"Ok, well those are all of my questions. Kagome," Dr. Shepherd turns to me, "as soon as you get through that bag of blood you are free to go. Here is a list of instructions for taking care of your back. You need to come back and see me in a couple of weeks and I will take those stitches out for you, ok?" He hands me the paper and giving me a pat on the hand walks out of the room.

As soon as he leaves I let go of the breath I didn't realize I was holding before rounding on Inuyasha.

"What was that all about?" I ask him, raising an eyebrow. He looks at me confused.

"Your attitude! The way you were treating the doctor!" I exclaim, gesturing between him and the door that the good doctor had just left through.

"Nothing! I just didn't like him," he says, stuffing his hands into the wide sleeves of his fire rat robes, "He was being too friendly with you."

"Inuyasha," I groan, "it's called having a good bedside manner. He was just making sure I was ok. It's part of his job."

"Yeah, well, he didn't have to hold your hand," he mutters, turning his head away from me.

My mouth drops open in shock, "You were jealous of him cause he held my hand?" I exclaim.

"I am not jealous!" but he won't meet my eyes as he says it.

"Uh huh," I say grinning up at him.

He doesn't respond and instead turns fully away from me and goes and sits on the couch. Sota is snickering and my mother is hiding her smile behind her hand. Gramps it seems didn't notice anything, why am I not surprised? I close my eyes, abruptly feeling exhausted despite the fact that I have been unconscious for over three days. I am just starting to drift off, listening to the quiet murmurs of my family when an almost audible pulse of power, causes my eyes to shoot open in alarm.

I jerk my head towards Inuyasha and my mother noticing the movement also turns towards the hanyou. I can hear her gasp as I watch, fascinated as always, as Inuyasha makes the transformation from human to half-demon. His hair is always the first noticeable change, turning dark grey, then ash, to finally silver-white. His hands are still shoved in his sleeves but I can picture the lengthening of the nails into claws in my head. His lips quirk up barely and I can see the tip of his fangs. I smile as I watch his human ears shoot up into his hair and reemerge on the top of his head as two white fluffy triangles that immediately perk forward taking in the sounds. Finally he opens his eyes and I am once again mesmerized by golden eyes.

"Hi," he says grinning at my family. My mother is staring at him absolutely amazed along with Gramps. Sota is grinning from ear to ear, eyes wide with excitement.

"Feel better?" I ask, I know how much he hates being in his human form since he can longer rely on the heightened senses of the demon. He nods rolling his head on his shoulders. Even from where I am sitting I can hear his neck crack.

"That was so cool!" Sota exclaims, jumping off the bed to get a closer look at Inuyasha.

"Feh, if you say so runt," but he smirks at me over my brother's head. I smile back at him, knowing how much Inuyasha loves being the hero in Sota's eyes. He is trying to be the cool big brother that I think he always wished Sesshomaru was.

Suddenly the door opens and a nurse with her head down, scribbling on a clipboard walks in. It was almost comical to watch every single member of my family, mine included, eyes go round and before the nurse could look up and spot a half-demon sitting in the room, my mother had seized Inuyasha and had thrown him into the small bathroom slamming the door behind him. Sota, casually side steps in front of the door leaning on it like he had been there all along, and in absolutely perfect timing Gramps goes into a coughing fit slamming his hand against the wall, right as Inuyasha starts yelling. If it wasn't for the fact that my heart is still pounding in my chest from the near sighting of Inuyasha I could have found the situation funny, if not downright hilarious. My family is almost as protective about Inuyasha as I am.

The nurse looks up at the door slamming but just smiles at everyone before moving towards the I.V. stand.

"Looks like you're all done, dearie," she says unhooking the I.V. and gently pulling the needle out of my arm. She hands me a piece of gauze to hold over the hole until the blood clots, then moves over to the other side of me, taking the heart rate monitor device off my finger.

"There you go, I'll have a nurse send up a wheelchair for you so you can leave," she says, and smiling cheerfully at me backs out of the room.

As soon as she is gone, Sota moves from the bathroom door and it swings open revealing an annoyed and confused Inuyasha.

"Why was I shoved in there?" he asks striding out.

"Remember the whole thing about people not seeing you like this?" my mother asks, reaching up and gently tugging on one of his ears. Inuyasha promptly lays his ears flat against his head, scowling at my mother. She just giggles and ruffles his hair.

Inuyasha turns to me, "You can leave now?"

"Yeah I can, just gotta wait for a wheelchair to get me out of here," I smile at him.

"Why can't I just carry you?"

I raise an eyebrow at him and he sighs answering his own question, "People seeing me, right. I guess I'll meet you at the house?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

He grumbles but goes to the window easing it open, "Hey Sota!" he calls over his shoulder, "If you want I'll give you a ride home?"

"Really?" says Sota running up Inuyasha, a smile that could light up a town on his face.

"Yeah, if your mom says it's ok." He glances over at Mom.

Sota wheels around and gives my mother the most pathetic puppy eyes that he can manage, which even I have to admit after being around Shippo is pretty impressive.

"Please Mom? Can I go?" Sota begs, practically on his knees.

My mom gives me a look asking with her eyes how safe this was and I just shrug, "He's never dropped me Mom."

"Alright Sota you can go," Mom sighs, clearly able to tell that she won't win this battle.

"YES!" Sota leaps in the air in excitement and runs back to Inuyasha, leaping onto his back, wrapping his arms and legs tightly around him.

"Ready?" Inuyasha asks, stepping up onto the window ledge. Sota nods apparently to excited for words. Just as he is getting ready to leap out of the window my mother's voice calls him back.

"Inuyasha?" He turns looking at her, "Be careful with my baby, ok?"

He nods, "Always. Ready to fly kid?" The next second he is gone and the only thing that we can hear is Sota's whoop as they go leaping from building top to building top.

I grin, shaking my head, 'Boys,' I think. I turn my head towards the door as it opens again and this time another nurse walks in pushing a wheelchair.

"You ready to go sweetie?" she asks kindly.

I nod eagerly and she chuckles but moves the wheelchair next to the bed and with the help of my mother and the nurse I manage to sit up and carefully swing my body out of bed and into the waiting chair. Gramps grabs my backpack from the floor and with my mother walking next to me I am pushed gently down the hallways and out into the bright early morning sunshine.

"I'll go get the car," my mother says and quickly hurries across the parking lot. I stay quiet but my chauffer has struck up a conversation with my grandfather about the shrine. A few minutes later Mom pulls up in our light blue Daihatsu Sirion (AN: I found this car online and figured it would be a practical car for them to have, a link to the pic will be on my profile). The nurse helps me stand and we carefully walk over to the car and Gramps is there holding open the back passenger door. I smile gratefully at him and gingerly lower myself into the vehicle. Once I was settled I thank the nurse, who wishes me to get well soon. Gramps climbs into the passenger seat and Mom into the driver seat. As we pull away from the hospital I close my eyes and in a few seconds I am fast asleep.

I stir when the car stops but I am too sleepy to do much about it. Suddenly I feel a pair of warm strong arms lift me from the car. I am placed against a hard, but comfortable chest and my head sinks onto a shoulder.

"Inuyasha?" I murmur sleepily, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Keh. Who else?"

We are walking now, though I can barely tell, he is stepping so softly as not to disturb me. I hear the sound of the front door sliding open and then the squeak of the stairs as he climbs. The next thing I know, I am being lowered onto my bed, my wonderful soft bed. He has placed me face down so I am off my back. I snuggle myself deeper into the bedding and my blanket is draped over me. I feel Inuyasha's presence start to move away from me and I panic for a split second, reaching out blindly for him.

"Inuyasha, don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere without you Kagome." He gently grasps my reaching hand and returns it to the bed, but he doesn't let go once there.

"Good," my voice is slurred with sleep.

"Sleep Kagome," he whispers and I allow myself to be sucked into the world of dreams.

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**AN2:** Did anybody catch my Grey's Anatomy refernce? And how many of you are going back through the chapter to find it? : ) Please R&R!


	8. Feelings

**AN:** Ok random side note here, I kinda got the inspiration for Inuyasha's argument in this chapter from the song "I Won't Say I am in Love" from Disney's Hercules. When I was writing this that was all I could picture! : - )

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 8: Feelings  
**

I watch as Kagome slips into unconsciousness. Her face smoothes out, her breathing deepens and I can even hear her heart slow down. I sigh and settle myself on the floor next to her bed, gently I try to take my hand back from where she is grasping it, but in response her grip becomes tighter. I frown but then the next instant I let it go. If she wants to hold my hand, fine, not like I care.

'Liar,' a voice whispers in my head that sounds suspiciously like Kagome, 'If you didn't care then what was with the 'I'm not going anywhere without you Kagome' bit back there?'

'Grrr…nothing, it didn't mean anything. I was just saying what I knew she wanted to hear.'

'Uh huh, sure, you keep deluding yourself like that. I know how you really feel about her. You love her, don't deny it.'

'Agh! Shut up! Just shut up! You don't know what you are talking about!'

Great now not only am I hearing voices in my head, I am arguing with them as well.

'Jeesh, stubborn aren't you? Then why do you get so anxious when she leaves? Or why when she is even an hour late you go jumping through the well after her? Or why do you get so jealous about Koga? Or that doctor today? Or why does your heart pound when she is close to you, touches you, hugs you? Or…'

'GOD DAMNIT WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY! Fine you made your point! I love her alright?'

My eyes widen, realizing what I had just admitted to myself, though, deep down, I had known all along, hence this argument with my conscience.

'There now, see, was it really that hard?' the voice now has a smug air about it, very satisfied with itself.

I groan out loud and press my face into the edge of Kagome's bed. I breathe in deeply, taking in her scent that I am sure I could pick up through a blizzard. Her room is saturated in her scent of vanilla and raspberry. Her smell has always been able to calm me and even now I can feel the stress from the past few days leaving my body.

I am now no longer sure what to do about my feelings for Kagome. It was so much simpler when I could pretend that I didn't feel anything for her. That I was just her protector, nothing more. My heart is in my throat any time we do battle. I am so worried. If it came down to it, I would want her to stay here, in this time, where nothing can harm her, until I defeat Naraku. But I know I can't. I am a selfish creature; I need to have her beside me, plus I'm not sure if I could convince her to stay away, to stay here.

I am interrupted from my musings due to the sound of someone climbing the stairs. My ears swivel towards the door and I recognize the scent of Kagome's mother. She pokes her head around the edge of the door and I watch as her eyes take in her daughter's sleeping body and then shift to me. I have always liked Mrs. Higurashi due to the fact that she doesn't treat me different. It amazed me the first time I met her that she didn't care that I had suddenly appeared in her kitchen but that she was more fascinated with my ears. Kagome's family was special that much I knew. That they had accepted me into their family and into their daughter's life meant more to me than I can ever put into words.

"Is she asleep?" Mrs. Higuarshi asks quietly from the doorway.

"Yeah, fell asleep about 15 minutes ago," I whisper back.

She nods, "Well, I am going to go lay down for a bit. Will you be ok?" She is looking at me concerned.

I nod and she sighs, "Ok, well if you need anything just grab Sota, he should be downstairs. Get some sleep too, Inuyasha, I am sure you are exhausted."

"Ok, I will," I respond, not really meaning it. I just know that that is the response Mrs. Higurashi is looking for.

She frowns at me, probably guessing that I am not going to be getting rest any time soon, but lets the subject drop and backs out of the room leaving the door open a crack behind her. I turn my attention back to the sleeping Kagome, she is still out cold and I have a feeling she will be out of it for a while. But still, just in case, I settle myself more comfortably on the floor and prepare myself for another day of no sleep. It was going to be a long day.

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**AN2:** Please R&R! It only takes a couple of minutes for you to completely make my day!


	9. Contact

**AN:** Nothing really to say. But I would like to take this time to thank all the people that have reviewed and have added this story to their favorites list! You guys rock and are the reason that I keep writing!

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 9: Contact  
**

Coming slowly back to consciousness I blink in the orange afternoon sunlight that is streaming into my room.

"Kagome?"

I blink again and focus on Inuyasha who is propped up against my bedside table watching me.

"Hey," I croak out. My throat is so dry! Ugh!

"Hey," he gives me a quick up turn of his lips, not really a smile, but I'll take what I can get.

"Ugh, how long was I asleep?" I groan, trying to stretch without moving my back too much.

"About eight hours, it's four in the afternoon," he says glancing over his shoulder at my alarm clock.

"Wow, I must have been really tired then," I mumble. I go to shift my left hand but am surprised to feel the weight of it. Glancing down, I stare for a couple of seconds before my brain registers what I am seeing. I am holding Inuyasha's hand!

Inuyasha follows my gaze and a quick blush steals over his face, 'Uh, yeah can I have my hand back?"

"Y-Yeah, sure," I am blushing now too, and quickly drop his hand. I remember now, how I had panicked and reached out for him right when I was falling asleep. Did he hold my hand the whole time I was asleep?

"You hungry?" he asks me suddenly. Apparently my stomach can now understand Japanese because right then it lets loose a huge growl.

I flush again embarrassed while Inuyasha smirks at me, "I'll take that as a yes. C'mon let's get you up."

He reaches for me and pulls me into his arms, before gently lowering my legs so that way I am standing, but so that I am leaning against his chest. I feel my legs wobble for a second but then they seem to get their bearings. I glance up at him and am startled to see how close our faces are. We are merely inches apart, the thought that we could kiss right now runs through my brain before I can stop it. Suddenly a hand is on my face gently cupping my cheek. He is staring at me, so intense and I know that I am blushing now. I feel his thumb move across my cheek in a small caress and my heart is beating a frantic tattoo in my chest. Part of me is wondering if he can hear it, the other part of me is telling myself to shut up and enjoy this. Abruptly I am engulfed in the sleeves of his fire rat robes as he wraps his arms around me in a hug. His arms are wrapped low on my waist to not disturb the stitches and I feel him bury his face into my hair, while my own face is pressed into his chest.

"Inuyasha?" I whisper, startled by the sudden affection that he is showing. He hasn't hugged me like this since that battle with Sesshomaru when afterwards he tried to seal the well.

He takes a deep breath, I can feel his chest expand and I am briefly distracted by the steady thumping of his heart. It was a wonderful sound and reminds me of all the times that I have been worried that it would stop. He is alive and I am alive to fight another day.

"Damn wench," he mutters into my hair, "don't you ever scare me like that again." His voice is full of repressed emotions and I know that me being injured like that is hard on him. He always takes any injury I receive as a personal blow to his fighting abilities. That if he had been a little faster or a little stronger I wouldn't have been hurt.

"Inuyasha," I murmur and I manage to free my arms from where they had pressed to my sides and wrap them around his neck. In response he pulls me tighter against him, not enough to crush but still I feel my breath catch in my throat a bit. We don't say anything for a while; we just stand there and enjoy each other's closeness. Finally, though my body protests and another huge growl erupts from my stomach.

He snorts into my hair and pulls back enough that I can look into his eyes; they have a playful quality to them that I am not used to seeing.

"Let's get you some food. You're starving, I'm starving and I can hear your mother downstairs cooking dinner."

I can't help but smile back at him, the mood is catching. Keeping an arm wrapped around my waist he helps support me out of the room and into the hall and down the stairs into the kitchen. My mom is there, standing in front of the stove stirring something that smells delicious in a pot. She looks up hearing us enter and a smile breaks out over her features.

"Kagome! You're up! How are you feeling dear?"

"I'm fine Mom, just a little sore and stiff," I reply as Inuyasha gets me settled on a cushion.

"That's good, glad to hear it dear. I am making you all some ramen, hope that's ok?" she asks, turning her back to us and going back to stirring.

"Yeah that's fine Mom. I think I would eat just about anything right now." My stomach gives another growl to back up my statement.

"Yeah ramen sounds great Mrs. Higurashi," says Inuyasha who sits down on a cushion next to me and is following my mother's movements like a hawk.

My mom laughs, "Well I knew you wouldn't complain Inuyasha. It seems like that's all you eat when you are here." She turns to the table holding the pot that I can now see is full of steaming noodles. She sets it down and begins dolling out portions into bowls while calling for the rest of my family.

"Sota, Dad, dinner's ready!"

The next second Sota comes flying into the kitchen and sits himself down opposite of me and Gramps comes in behind him and places himself opposite of Inuyasha. They both give me smiles and tell me that they are glad to see that I am up and about but I am only half listening. I am distracted by a weird tingling feeling that is creeping down my back. I shift trying to ignore it, but the feeling just intensifies. I frown and squirm again, this time catching the eye of the hanyou sitting next to me. He gives me a confused look, but I just shrug and force myself to sit still, even though the sensation of something creeping down my back is driving me crazy.

My mom hands me my bowl of ramen and I thank her and try to eat, hoping the feeling will pass. Inuyasha is wolfing down his portion of the meal but in mid bite he pauses and sniffs the air. I notice all of this out of the corner of my eye since I am trying to focus on my dinner afraid that if I look at anything else my discomfort would show in my face.

"Inuyasha?" my mother questions, no doubt noticing the he has stopped eating.

He doesn't respond, instead I can feel his gaze on the side of my face. I hazard a glance and meet shocked and worried golden eyes. His eyes move from me to my back to me again. He repeats the motion a couple of times before it clicks what he is trying to tell me without alerting my mother. My back. There is something wrong with my back and he can smell it. I narrow my eyes and give a barely noticeable shake of my head, warning him not to say anything. He frowns at me and gestures with his eyes to the door, clearly wanting us to leave so he can take a look. I again shake my head and look down at my food and then up at him. I don't want to raise suspicions, and it would look funny if we left in the middle of the meal. His frown deepens but turns away and again starts chowing down on the ramen like nothing is wrong. The whole exchange maybe took ten seconds.

"Inuyasha?" my mother questions again.

Swallowing a large mouthful of noodles Inuyasha says, "Sorry Mrs. Higurashi, just smelled something funny outside I guess."

Sota and Gramps seem to accept this answer and go back to eating since they too had paused when Mom had first questioned Inuyasha. Mom, however, I am not sure if she buys the story. She watches Inuyasha and me for a bit but then goes back to eating. Once I am sure no one is paying attention I drop my hand and grasp Inuyasha's thigh as tight as I can, using him to distract myself from the pain. Inuyasha jumps at the contact and shoots me another worried look, but doesn't say anything except to speed up his eating. I too am trying to hurry but with every minute that goes by the pain increases. I am gripping Inuyasha's thigh so tight that I know my knuckles have to be white; also I am sure that if Inuyasha was a normal human he would have bruises for days the shape of my fingers.

The second I swallow my last bite I am excusing myself from the table.

"Momma thanks for the food it was wonderful but apparently I am not as recovered as I thought I was so I am going to go back upstairs and lay down for a while." As I am saying this Inuyasha is already pulling me to my feet and starting to guide me towards the door and the safety of my room.

My mother blinks surprised but nods, "Ok dear, if you're sure you got enough to eat."

With that we are out the door as fast as I can walk, which is not very fast, but as soon as we get to the stairs I am pulled into Inuyasha's arms as he leaps up the stairs and into my room.

My only thought was, 'What had gone wrong now?'

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**AN2:** Please R&R!


	10. Realizing

**AN:** Hey guys this will be the last chapter until next weekend. I plan to update at least another 2-3 chapters then. It probably won't be another 5 like I have been doing unless I get more of the story written.

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 10: Realizing**

It had been subtle at first, so subtle that I almost dismissed it. It was an odd smell, like something dissolving in water. But the smell continued to get stronger and that's when I noticed Kagome shifting in her seat next to me. The more she shifted the stronger the smell became, however Kagome catches me looking at her and she stops fidgeting before I could pin point exactly where the odd smell was coming from.

Mrs. Higurashi hands me my bowl of noodles and since I haven't eaten since I don't know when I began wolfing them down. Kagome, I notice, is eating but her posture is way too stiff, like she is trying really hard not to move. Her gaze is fixed on her food but it looks like she is trying to burn holes through it. I frown, this is not normal behavior for her and plus that damn smell is slowly getting stronger.

I am about halfway through my serving of ramen when a smell that I know very well and wish to hell that I didn't hits my nose. Kagome's blood! I pause, a chopstick full of noodles halfway to my mouth and turn to stare at Kagome. I know she is bleeding but where? My eyes scan over her body but I don't see anything, but then the obvious hits me right in the face. Her back! That was what that smell was! Those stitches in her back were dissolving and she is bleeding through them! I hear Mrs. Higurashi calling my name but I don't answer, my whole attention is riveted on the girl sitting next to me who is clearly, to me anyways, in pain.

Finally Kagome looks my way and we start to have a weird silent communication of eye movements. I stare at her face then at her back then her face again. I am trying to tell her that something is wrong with her back without letting her family in on it. We have already worried them enough to last a life time and I am pretty sure we can handle this ourselves. I have to repeat the motion a couple of times before I see understanding light up her eyes. She frowns at me and just barely shakes her head in a silent 'no', warning me not to say anything. Now I'm frowning and I shift my gaze to the door; wanting us to leave to I can look at her back and rebandage it. I should have seen this coming, that the demon would have had secretions in its claws. But the fact that it could dissolve her stitches is just bad karma. She frowns at me again and shakes her head at me. Her eyes shift between me and her bowl of food and I realize that she wants to stay until dinner is finished. I feel my own frown deepen but I reluctantly go back to my noodles and start shoving them in my mouth. Next to me Kagome does the same. The whole exchange lasted ten seconds.

A couple of mouthfuls later Mrs. Higurashi again calls my name clearly questioning why I had stopped eating. I quickly swallow the food that's in my mouth before replying.

"Sorry Mrs. Higurashi, just smelled something funny outside I guess."

Across from Kagome and I Sota and her grandfather start eating again, since they too had paused when I had stopped. I return to my noodles though I can feel Mrs. Higurashi's eyes on me but finally she drops her gaze and resumes eating as well. The next instant though I nearly jump out of my skin as a hand comes out of nowhere and puts a death grip on my thigh. Without looking up I glance over at Kagome, my expression worried, her face doesn't reveal anything and I realize that she is trying to ignore the pain of the stitches dissolving. I don't say anything but increase my chewing speed. I am determined to get her out of here as quickly as possible.

However with each minute that goes by her grip on my leg gets tighter. I glance down at her hand and notice that her knuckles are bone white and I am positive that if I was human I would have bruises from each and every one of her fingertips. I finish my portion of dinner and in the next minute Kagome finishes as well. I have to resist the urge to yank her to her feet as she excuses us from the table. Still I hurry her out of there as fast as she can manage. I can feel the worried gazes of her family on my back but I don't care. When we are out of eyesight from the kitchen I lose what is left of my patience and scoop her up into my arms as I leap up the stairs into the safety of her room.

As the door closes behind us, I set her down on the floor and she immediately turns around so that she can face me.

"What's going on?" she asks, her expression worried and tinged with pain.

I swallow past the lump that has formed in my throat since I realized that something was wrong and manage to supply an answer, "Your stitches are dissolving. You're bleeding again."

She stares at me, clearly confused, "But why? They shouldn't have dissolved for another ten days not over a few hours."

"Probably due to that bear demon. Most of them have some type of poisonous secretion in their claws. I should have thought of it sooner, but it looks like it can eat through whatever it is that makes up your sutures in this era." I flash her a guilty look; if I had realized it sooner she would not be in pain right now.

She sighs, but then grimaces, "It's not your fault, Inuyasha. I am sure you had other things on your mind."

I open my mouth prepared to argue against her when she cuts me off, "Look, just what do we need to do?"

"Well, the only thing I can really think of is to take off those old bandages and try to clean out as much of the secretions as I can. I will be able to smell it and then just rebandage you up. We might have to do it a couple of times to get it all out of your back. We won't be able to close the wounds; they will just have to heal naturally."

She just sighs and nods towards the door, "If you go into the bathroom, under the sink in the back are my first-aid supplies. If you can grab that we can get started."

I grunt and head out of the room.

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**AN2:** Please R&R!


	11. Wounds

**AN:** Ok everybody I apologize for this update being late. I have no excuses except for me being lazy...hope you all enjoy this next series of chapters. I have decided to go on and post another five chapters instead of just a couple like I said in my last AN to make up for my lateness, however i have not had a chance to write more of the story, so it will take longer for me to update. But the good news is that Christmas is coming up which means a whole month off from school! Yay! So I am hoping to maybe finish this story over the break.

Also, I have a bone to pick with you all. I have noticed a fair number of people have added this story to thier favorites or have added chapter alerts but hardly anyone has reviewed. Please guys, it would mean so much to me if you all would just jot down a couple of sentences about how you feel about the story. Would completley make my day!

**Disclaimer:** See Ch. 1

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 11: Wounds  
**

I can hear him rummaging around in the bathroom and the next minute returns with his arms loaded down with supplies. I raise an eyebrow at him, but he just rolls his eyes at me and sets it all down next to me. He has a towel, a washcloth and a bowl of steaming water, several rolls of bandages, cotton gauze and antiseptic cream.

"Here," he says handing me the towel , blushing slightly, "You can use this to cover up while I am working on you." He then shrugs out of his haori and holds it out to me, "you can wrap that around your waist to keep from bleeding all over the floor. It's already covered in blood; a little more won't hurt it."

I nod, surprised at his thoughtfulness and take the towel and jacket from him. I glance at him and he immediately looks away the blush becoming more prominent across his cheeks as I start to shrug out of the hospital gown. I quickly wrap the hitoe around my waist to the best of my ability considering I can't twist my back and then press the towel to my chest.

"Ready," I call to him.

He turns back to me and his gaze is immediately riveted to my back. I cringe slightly, I can feel the blood seeping down my back, but for him to have that look of horror and anger on his face it must look awful. He growls some curse words in his throat but nothing that I can make out clearly.

"Face forward," he says, gently reaching up and turning my face back towards my bed. "You are stretching the wounds when you turn your head."

I nod my understanding and focus on my bedspread but jump when his claws go slashing down my right side. I yelp, startled, and it takes all of my will power not to jerk away from him.

"Sorry," he mutters and he actually sounds sheepish, "but I had to cut the old bandages off."

"T-th-that's fine," I stutter, releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Just warn me next time."

He doesn't say anything but I can all but see him nodding in my mind. As gently as possible I feel his fingers creep across my back, slowly pulling the soiled bandages away. I manage to stay still despite the pain of caked blood tearing from my flesh. I can also feel the fresh flow of blood go oozing down my back now that the bandages are not in the way. When I feel the last of the bandages finally fall away there is silence. I wait, feeling Inuyasha's gaze moving up my back, waiting for his reaction. I am not disappointed.

"SON OF A BITCH!" he curses quietly but with so much passion and hatred that part me is glad that the bear demon is already dead, if it was still alive it would not have passed peacefully into the next world.

I hear him take a deep breath and then another, trying to calm himself down. Finally he sighs and I see out of the corner of my eye his hand reach for a bowl of water with a washcloth in it that is steaming slightly. He rings it out and gently begins the slow process of cleaning my back.

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**AN2:** PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'll bake everyone a pumpkin pie that does! :)


	12. Thoughts

**AN:** Here is the next chapter! Hope you all like it!

**Disclaimer:** See Ch. 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 12: Thoughts  
**

I throw my whole concentration into the task of cleaning her up. If I even begin to think about what happened, how she got these injuries and what could have happened if she did not have the advance medication I become so angry I can't even see straight. So I block out all my thoughts except for focusing on making sure each slash is as clean as it can be.

Part of my brain, the definite human part though is trying to distract me with the thoughts that Kagome, the girl that I have quietly fallen in love with, is sitting in front of me topless. At the hospital when I had seen her like this I was too worried to really think about her state of dress. I mean, sure I noticed, but then what red-blooded male wouldn't? But now that I know she is going to be ok my human hormones are taking over. I shake my head, angry at myself for even harboring such thoughts towards her at a time like this. Still…I let my thoughts drift to Kikyou and how much things have changed since she had died again.

Once Kikyo had finally been able to move on, I was able to move on as well. I know that I had put Kagome through hell by constantly running after Kikyo, but I think, hindsight being 20/20 and all that, that the reason I chased Kikyo so hard was that I recognized that I was falling for Kagome, and that scared me. But I believe being there when Kikyo died again was what enabled me to move on from her and truly recognize and accept my feelings for Kagome. I just never realized how strong those feelings were till today.

"Inuyasha?"

I blink and glance up, realizing that I had paused in my ministrations. I shake my head and once again take up the task of clearing the blood and what was left of the destroyed stitches from Kagome's back.

"Are you ok?" Kagome asks quietly.

"Just thinking," I respond. Like hell was I going to tell her what I was thinking about.

I watch Kagome duck her head a little, she is playing her hands in her lap, a sure sign that she wants to say something but isn't sure if she should say it.

"What is it?" I sigh, re-dipping the washcloth in the blood tainted water.

"What…?" she replies, startled, her head jerking back up.

"You were playing with your hands," I explain as I move on the last and final slash mark. Out of the five this one is the shortest. It runs from the bottom of her shoulder blade to just above her right hip. "You always play with your hands when you want to tell me something but you're not sure how to say it."

"Oh," she glances down at her hands and drops them in her lap. "I didn't even notice."

"Humph, so what is it? C'mon spit it out already."

Kagome ducks her head back down and she whispers very softly, "She would want you to be happy."

Ok…now that is just freaky. I swear I think this girl can read my mind sometimes. In fact, I barely even pause cleaning the wound; I have gotten that used to Kagome's mind reading abilities.

"You think?" I ask trying to sound casual but realizing that I desperately need to hear the answer. I need to assure myself that this is ok, loving Kagome.

"I know."

That simple answer somehow made me feel like everything was going to work out all right. I grin at her back, though I know she can't see it, feeling more confident in myself than I have in a long time. I put down the washcloth and reach for the antiseptic cream.

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**AN2:** Please Review! Sugar cookies for everyone that does!


	13. Understanding

**AN:** Onward with the story! The plot thickens!

**Disclaimer:** Do I really have to keep repeating this? *reads fine print in FF contract* Crap, yes I do. See Ch. 1 for the statement that says unfortunately do not own Inuyasha. : (

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 13: Understanding  
**

Kagome's mom hums to herself as she finishes bustling around the kitchen and starts to head up stairs to check on Kagome and Inuyasha, they had been awfully quite since they had gone back up to her room after dinner.

She smiles to herself, 'Those two, are they completely blind to each other's feelings?'

Any mother could see how much Kagome cared for the hanyou. And Kagome's mom, was just that a mother. When Kagome was home all she did was talk about Inuyasha. Even if a story started off about one of her other friends from the feudal era, the story always ended up being about the hanyou. Even in the hard-to-read Inuyasha it was obvious. From the way he followed her with his eyes as she moved around the house, to how quick he was to come through the well to see her if she was even more than an hour late. They were in love.

'I wonder if I need to talk to her about being responsible…'She frowns, climbing the stairs. Her frown deepens when she notices that Kagome's door is closed.

'That's weird,' she thinks to herself, 'Kagome knows that she is supposed to have the door open when she has a boy over, even if it is Inuyasha.'

She can hear voices through the door and she pauses to listen before knocking to remind Kagome to open the door.

"Mmmmm…Inuyasha…" a voice moans.

'That's Kagome,' her mother thinks, unconsciously leaning closer to the door.

"Kagome," replies a very husky Inuyasha.

Kagome's mom's eyes widen as she listens at the door.

"Oooooo…wait why did you stop?"

"Kagome, I'm hurting you! I don't want to hurt you!"

"Inuyasha I swear if you don't keep moving I'll….ahhhhh!"

'What on earth…' her mom thinks, but a scenario is already running through her brain and she doesn't like where it is going, even though part of her knows that it is irrational, Kagome just got out of the hospital, but still those sounds...

"See I told you! I don't want…"

"It's supposed to hurt! Don't stop!"

Kagome's mom presses her ear to the door, a pause, then, "KAGOME!" moans Inuyasha.

Kagome's mom can't take it anymore and fully prepared to go in there and give them a piece of her mind, she grabs the door handle and yanks open the door, filling her lungs to scream.

"KAGOME HIGURASHI! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON IN HERE?"

The occupants of the room freeze and slowly turn their heads to the door. Kagome's mom stands there, red-faced and furious until her eyes actually start to take in what she is seeing.

Inuyasha is kneeling on the floor, dressed in only his kosode and hakama, a clawed hand raised over Kagome's back with a glop of ointment on it. He is staring at her, surprise and wariness written on his face. Around him are various medical supplies; cotton, gauze, bandages, a bowl of blood colored water with an equally blood red wash cloth, and a container of ointment. Kagome is also kneeling on the floor, her horrified face turned towards her mother, while she is clutching a towel to her chest. Inuyasha's hitoe is wrapped around her waist and her back is completely bare. But what is drawing Kagome's mother's attention are the five slash marks across her daughter's back that are partially covered in cream.

"Ka-kagome" her mother breaths, taking a step into the room.

"Momma!" Kagome shouts, twisting away from Inuyasha and facing her mother completely. Inuyasha is still frozen though his gaze is jumping from Kagome's mom to Kagome.

Kagome's mom takes another step into the room and Kagome, in response, shifts away. Kagome's mom freezes, a look of hurt washing over her face, before being replaced by concern.

"Kagome, what happened? Your back was all stitched up. What happened to the stitches?"

"Nothing Momma, I'm fine." Kagome insists, watching her mother warily.

Inuyasha snorts, "I hardly call five slash marks down your back that can apparently eat through the suture of this era fine Kagome."

Kagome turns her most heated glare at him and Inuyasha couldn't help but think, 'Man if looks could kill.'

"Kagome, I'm not blind or stupid! I can see that you are not fine! What happened?" her mother asks, anger creeping into her voice.

"Nothing Mom! The demon that attacked me seems to have some sort of secretion in its claws that eats suture. I just have to keep the wounds bandaged, end of story!" Kagome shouts back.

"Uh…Kagome," Inuyasha ventures.

"What?" she snaps at him.

Inuyasha narrows his eyes at her, "Can you argue with your mother while I finish patching up your back?"

"Oh, so now you are suddenly not squeamish about putting it on?" she asks, glaring at him.

"No, I still don't like it. It is hurting you. But I would rather hurt you by saving you then you dying because you decided to get into an argument with your mother!"

"Fine!" she shouts, and repositions herself with her injured back towards Inuyasha.

He groans, "Now see look, you have gone and started them bleeding again. Good job." His hand reaches once more for the wash cloth and starts to wipe the trickling blood off Kagome's back.

"Kagome," her mother starts, kneeling down on the floor so that way she is sideways to Inuyasha and Kagome.

"I'm sorry Mama, I just didn't want to tell you, because I had already made you worry enough and I thought that if you knew you wouldn't let me go back." Kagome says, interrupting her, while staring hard at her bed spread.

"Sweet heart," said Kagome's mom, "you should know by now that you can tell me anything. And about it being dangerous, do you think I didn't notice when you would come home with bandages on, with bruises and cuts covering your arms and legs? That you had rips, tears and blood stains on your clothes? Or that you were suddenly requesting more first-aid supplies? I knew, but I didn't say anything because I trust you Kagome. I trusted that you knew what you were doing. As for not letting you go, how could I have stopped you? The well only works for you. I could have told you to stay, forbid it even but then you would have been so unhappy, so miserable. I couldn't do that to you, you are happiest when you are there, I know you are and I have accepted that."

Kagome's eyes fill with tears, "Oh Momma," she whispers, but that is all she can say. But it doesn't matter because her mom can see the love and thankfulness shining in her daughter's eyes.

Inuyasha once again grabs the jar of ointment, scoops out a glob and starts to spread it into the wounds. Kagome immediately stiffens and a small moan creeps out of her throat. Inuyasha's jaw clenches and his ears tilt back almost flat against his head, a clear sign he does not like that he has to do this. Suddenly everything makes sense to Kagome's mom. The sounds and the conversation that she overheard along with what she is witnessing now falling into place. She scoots closer to the couple and she notices that Inuyasha stiffens but otherwise does not stop his treatment.

"Kagome, darling, can you please tell me what happened? It might take your mind off the pain." She asks timidly, knowing that she was on thin ice with her daughter at the moment.

"We were, ugh, looking for the jewel shards, when I sensed one, ooo, to the north and we took off after it. Turns out it was just, ahhh, a minor bear demon, nothing really strong, that had managed to get a hold of a shard. Well, ouch, the demon managed to throw Inuyasha off and I didn't think and ran right in front of the bear to check on Inuyasha, ugh, right as it was swinging its claws down to finish him off. So it, ahh, got me instead. Turns out that bear demons have a secretion in their claws which can eat through sutures. Inuyasha could smell me start to bleed again, mmm, during dinner which is why we left so quickly."

Kagome's mom nods, and glances back at the gashes that adorn her daughter's back before asking her next question, "And this bear demon is…?"

"It's dead." Inuyasha answers shortly.

Kagome's mom turns her gaze to the hanyou who is still diligently spreading the ointment into the wounds. His face is tense, angry and annoyed.

"It's dead then?" she asks him.

"Yes, the thing could have lived too. Usually when only a minor demon, such as a bear demon gets a shard they are not that powerful and it is easy to take the shard away from them without killing them. Once the shard is gone they go back to being their normal selves and we just threaten them to never bother humans again and they go on their way. But, no, this one signed its death warrant the moment it touched Kagome." He says the last part with such heat that Kagome reaches a hand back and touches Inuyasha's knee, trying to calm him.

Inuyasha shakes his head and leans back to study his work on Kagome's back. Each cut is now liberally slathered in cream and thankfully Kagome's mom notices have stopped bleeding.

"I think I am done here just got to bandage you up now," he states.

Inuyasha reaches for some gauze pads and using the cream like an adhesive covers each cut with gauze. He then reaches for a roll of bandage but pauses glancing from Kagome's mom to Kagome. A light blush spreads across his cheeks and he nervously clears his throat.

"Uh, Kagome? Whenever you are ready."

"What? Oh," Kagome starts before she understands and casually drops her towel that was covering her chest.

Not giving himself time to think about it, or for that matter Kagome's mom time to think about it, Inuyasha starts to wrap the bandages around Kagome. He starts at her waist, wrapping around several times before he pauses and the blush gets just a bit stronger.

"Kagome," he murmurs.

"It's fine Inuyasha. I'm ok with it." Kagome replies though her own face is at least as red as Inuyasha's.

Still flushed, Inuyasha passes the bandage underneath her right arm with his right hand and brings it up as far as he can reach without touching her, then uses his left hand to grab the bandage and pull it over Kagome's left shoulder. He pauses at her shoulder and lets her adjust the bandage across her breast.

"Comfortable?" he asks, clearly embarrassed that he has to ask.

Kagome nods and Inuyasha continues with the bandaging. After every few passes around her waist he brings the bandage up over her chest and he pauses, waits for her to fix it and then continues. Each pass that he has to make over her shoulder though gives him clear look down the front of Kagome's chest. Finally all the cuts are covered, leaving Kagome clad from her waist to her shoulder blades in bandages. Inuyasha sits back and studies his handiwork; the blush that had been present since the process began, just starting to fade.

"All done," he states, clearly quite pleased with the job that he has done.

Kagome's mom leans forward as well and looks over the bandage job. She nods her approval, "Very nicely done, Inuyasha, couldn't have done better myself."

"Well, I would think he would be good at it, considering how many times he has watched me patch him up." Kagome snorts.

"Feh," Inuyasha grunts.

Kagome reaches down and grabs her bath robe, slipping it on backwards so that it covers her chest. She yawns then, a huge yawn that seems determined to split her face open. Inuyasha chuckles, standing, helps Kagome to her feet as well. She sways but Inuyasha picks her up before she can fall over.

"You are going to have to sleep on your stomach for a few days until those wounds start to scab over," he says, carrying her over to her bed.

Kagome's mom is there turning down the sheets for him. He nods his thanks and gently lowers Kagome face down onto the bed.

"No, I think I am going to sleep on my back tonight," she says, sarcasm heavy in her voice.

"Wench," he quips back, but he is smirking at her.

He leans over to grab the sheets and pull them up over her, but this exposes his back for the first time to Kagome's mom's gaze.

"Oh, Inuyasha! You're hurt!" she exclaims, instinctually reaching for him.

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**AN2:** Please review! S'mores for everybody!


	14. Stripping

**AN:** I don't know what it was, but I loved writing this chapter! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

**Disclaimer:** Once again, See Ch. 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 14: Stripping  
**

Damn and here I was just thinking I was in the clear. I had completely forgotten about the blood that covered the back of my undershirt from where the demon bear's claw had pierced me. I straighten up and catch sight of Kagome's anxious face; her eyes are asking why I didn't tell her. But I choose to put her mom's fears to rest first.

"I'm fine Mrs. Higurashi," I say turning to face her and at the same time showing my back to Kagome, who I know would figure out that I was fine. I hear Kagome snigger, realizing now that I am not in any danger. "I promise you, I am not hurt."

She glares at me, ferocious enough to make me want to take a step back, now I see where Kagome gets it from. "Do you really think that I am going to be satisfied with that answer after I just heard my daughter say that and she had her back ripped apart! Knowing you, that means you have a hole through your stomach!"

I flinch, wondering if she realizes how close to the mark she really is about what Kagome and I consider 'fine' when my body is concerned.

Kagome's mom crosses her arms over her chest and says in a tone that booked no arguments, "Strip!"

Kagome, who, up in till this point had been sniggering quietly behind me abruptly falls silent. I glance at her and am amused to see that she has flushed red, she has seen my chest plenty of times due to battle wounds and has twice seen me fully naked, but I feel like bringing that up in front of her mother would significantly shorten my life span.

"Strip Inuyasha or I will do it for you!" Kagome's mother threatens.

"Alright, alright," I say, my hands moving towards to neckline of my kosode. I quickly tug it off my shoulders letting it fall around my waist, while simultaneously turning around and presenting my back to Kagome's mom for inspection.

I cross my arms over my now bare chest and glare at the wall, "There, see I told you, I'm fine."

I hear Kagome's mom gasp behind me as she views my perfectly healed back. I jump though when suddenly I feel hands running over it, gently pushing my hair over my left shoulder to get a better view. Twisting my head around I stare at Kagome's mom, but she is utterly fascinated with my skin it seems.

"There's just a line, a red line, like it has been healing for weeks," she whispers, gentle fingers tracing over the scar that in another day will disappear completely. I close my eyes, struggling suddenly with emotions that I'd rather not name. Nobody besides Kagome has touched me with this much care and attention since my mother died and I can barely remember that.

'How lucky Kagome is,' I think, glancing back at Kagome's mom, 'to have her mother.'

"But the blood," she glances back down at the shirt that is pooled around my waist, "the blood could not have been more than a couple of days old! There is no way you could have healed that fast!"

"Mom, he's a hanyou, not a regular human, he is going to heal faster and what would be life threatening in a human is more like getting a broken arm to him," speaks up Kagome from her spot on her bed, she glances at me before quickly turning away, her face now the most brilliant shade of red.

"Really?" says her mom, completely enthralled. "So my thing about having a hole in your stomach…"

I grin at her, flashing canines, "Has happened, several times."

Her mom's hands continue to trail across my back, she pauses and leans in closer to me, close enough that I can feel her breath ghosting over my skin. I somehow resist the urge to shudder.

"But there are scars," she murmurs, tracing one on my right shoulder with her finger.

I know the one that she is tracing well. It was the time that Sesshomaru attacked Kagome with my own sword and I took the brunt of the Wind Scar. We had both been lucky that Sesshomaru could not transform the Tetsusaiga completely or we would have both died.

"What happened to you that was so severe that it would scar?" she asks, glancing up at my face.

I turn my head and state quietly, "My brother attacked me with my own sword."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she jerks her hands away from my back and part of me longs for the touch again. But before she can say anything else, Kagome lets out another huge yawn and that seems to snap her mother back into action.

"Oh wow, look at me fussing over all of this, when you need your sleep Kagome," she says hastily backing away from me.

I raise my eyebrows suspiciously at Kagome and she gives me a quick wink.

'I thought so; she faked the yawn to keep me from having to explain about Sesshomaru. I owe you one Kagome.'

I bend down retrieving my kosode and am ready to pull it back on, when a hand on my arm stops me. I glance down to see Kagome's mom face smiling shyly up at me.

"I could wash that for you if you like? Get the blood and the dirt out of it; in fact I could wash your whole outfit!"

"Uh, sure," I say, not too sure how to respond to that, "If you want to that is."

"Here let me get you something to change into while I am washing it," she says earnestly, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me out of Kagome's room.

I manage to shoot Kagome a confused look before the door shuts behind me. Kagome's mom drags me into what I assume is her room by the smell. She drops my arm and bends down next a chest and starts to rummage through it.

"Yes, he was about your size, so his things should fit," her voice is muffled by the clothes that she is tossing around inside the chest. The next second she pops back up with a triumphant grin and is holding a pair of black pants in her hand.

"Oh, I am glad that I did not get rid of all of his things!" she cries happily. "Here try these on they should fit." She thrusts the pants at me and I realize that they are made of the same material that some of Kagome's sleep outfits are made of, so they must be 'pajamas' or whatever it is Kagome calls them. (AN: imagine black cotton, draw string pants)

"Here," she says shepherding me into the bathroom, "put those on and bring out what you are wearing and I'll get started washing it."

Next thing I know the door slams and I am left alone in the bathroom, wondering 'what the hell'? I shrug and strip out of my clothes. I have to admit, clean clothes sound nice. I can barely remember when was the last time that I had actually taken time to wash my clothes. The fire rat cleans itself but still it is nice for it to be scrubbed as well. I grab the pants that Kagome's mom has given me and a strange scent wafts past my nose. I pause, trying to identify it. It's definitely familiar, but where would I have smelled this scent before? I blink as it comes to me.

'It's Kagome's scent, but…not Kagome's scent, it's her but…male." I muse to myself as I pull them on. I have to admit they are comfy, so different from the clothes that I am used to wearing, plus they fit. I gather up my old clothes and open the bathroom door to find Kagome's mom waiting for me. She takes a quick look over me and nods, obviously satisfied.

"Good they do fit. I thought they might. Kagome's dad was around your height and build after all."

'So that is why the scent was familiar to me, its Kagome's dad's smell.' I wordlessly hand over my clothes while pondering this. Just as Kagome's mom is about to turn away from me I ask the question that is plaguing my mind now that I know who the scent belongs to.

"Mrs. Higurashi?" I ask, not sure if I should bring this up, but as the saying goes curiosity killed the demon. "What happened to your husband? Kagome never talks about it."

"Oh, I'm surprised she never told you, it's never bothered her before. He died, a car accident, Sota was not even a year old and Kagome was seven." She states all of this matter of factly, but I can sense the sadness behind the words.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I mutter the standard condolences.

"Don't be Inuyasha. It happened many years ago and though I still miss him, I have endured along with my children."

I nod, seeing where Kagome gets so much of her strength.

She smiles at me, "You really do have a heart of gold Inuyasha, despite how much you try to hide it."

"Yeah, well," I say gruffly, embarrassed now, "where I come from a demon showing compassion for humans is a one way ticket to the next world."

"I imagine my daughter might have a thing to do with your change in attitude?" she inquires, raising an eyebrow. Her look tells me that she knows full well that Kagome is responsible but she wants me to say it.

"Feh. Some of it." I am not going to give in that easily.

"She loves you."

She states it so calmly that I have run what she said through my head again to make sure I heard her right.

I sigh and nod, "I know, but I am not sure I deserve her love."

"Kagome is an excellent judge of character. So if she has devoted herself to you as much as I think she has then you must have something going right for you Inuyasha."

And saying that she gives me a gentle shove towards Kagome's door, before turning and heading down the stairs. I stare after her for a moment, thinking about what she said before turning and quietly entering Kagome's room.

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**AN2:** They never say in the manga or the anime what happens to Kagome's father. I am assuming that he is dead. If anyone has any more concrete evidence I would be glad to hear it! As always please review!


	15. Sharing

**AN:** Ok guys this is the last chapter that I have approved for publishing. The rest of the story is still in editing stages on my laptop or is running around haphazardly in my brain, so it is going to take me linger to update. I fully do not plan to have an update ready until after I go on holiday, which is Dec. 11th. I will try my very hardest to get an update in as soon as possible though.

**Disclaimer:** See Ch. 1.

* * *

**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 15: Sharing**

I hear my door open and immediately close my eyes pretending to be asleep in case it's Mom. I try to focus on keeping my breathing slow and even. A quiet snigger breaks my concentration though.

"Quit faking Kagome, I know you aren't asleep."

I open one eye and see Inuyasha standing next to my desk watching me. I open my mouth to retort back when the words die in my throat.

OH. MY. GOD. He is shirtless and wearing sleep pants that are hung low on his hips, low enough that I am getting an enticing view of V-muscle. (AN: Ladies you know what I am talking about!) He looks absolutely breath taking. I am having trouble tearing my eyes from his chest, his perfectly sculpted chest. Wait, I think I am actually drooling! Bad Kagome!

I am drawn from my thoughts by the half-naked hanyou standing before me calling my name.

"Kagome?" he asks, both eyebrows raised, clearing wondering at my slack-jawed expression.

"Huh? What? Sorry, zoned out there a little I guess," I manage to struggle out my face going hot with my blush. He snorts clearly not believing me but drops the subject in favor for settling himself on the floor next to my head. We are now roughly eye level with each other, since I am still flat on my stomach.

"How are you feeling?" he asks, his gaze sweeping down my now covered back.

I carefully shrug, "I am still a little tender but other than that, ok."

"Well I don't smell any blood, so that cream of yours is doing its job," he says, sniffing the air.

"Yeah, it's good stuff." I pause, "Inuyasha why does Mom have sleep pants that fit you?"

"Oh, these?" he asks, plucking at the fabric with his claws. "She said they were your dad's."

"Oh." I fall silent, memories that I had buried deep in my heart resurfacing.

'Dad.'

"Kagome, why didn't you tell me?" he asks, staring at me.

I am looking back, but not seeing him. My vague memories of my father playing in front of my eyes like a silent film. I mentally shake my head, pulling myself from the past enough to answer his question.

"I was going to," I say softly not making eye contact, instead staring at a spot somewhere over his right shoulder, "the day I found out that you had lost your own mother. Remember when Sesshomaru tricked you by calling forth the un-mother?"

He nods, his eyes never leaving my face.

"I was going to tell you that I understood your pain, at losing a parent but then the next second I find out that you had never known your father either. That he had died the night you were born and I couldn't. I realized that I really didn't know how much you had suffered at losing the only parent that you had ever known. How could I console you when I could come back here to my mother, grandfather and brother when you had no one? I just decided that my pain was insignificant compared to yours," I finish quietly.

"Kagome," he breathes, but says nothing else. We both know that there is nothing more that either of us could say to ease the lingering hurt.

"What was he like, your dad?" Inuyasha asks. I can see the curiosity shinning in his eyes. I realize to him, this is another piece of the puzzle that is me, falling into place.

I give him a sad smile, "I don't remember much, it, it happened so long ago, I was very small, barely seven when the accident happened. I remember the police showing up and Mom crying. She was holding Sota and I asked why she was crying and she just said that Daddy wasn't coming home.

"But I remember that he had a kind smile and loved to make people laugh. He would come home every evening and scoop me up, throwing me in the air asking how his princess was, and I always responded that I wasn't a princess, I was a warrior. I would then tell him these outrageous stories about running across the countryside in search of treasure and battling demons along the way…" I break off, unable to continue due to the tears streaming down my face.

Inuyasha is suddenly sitting next to me on the bed, and I bury my face into his leg sobbing uncontrollably. He doesn't say anything, but gently strokes my hair with his claws and I finally grieve for my father. After several minutes my sobs quiet down but I still keep my face pressed into Inuyasha's leg. I take deep breaths, inhaling the wonderful scent of the woods that always seems to cling to him.

I chuckle weakly and murmur, "One day I asked him if I would ever get a chance to be a warrior and battle demons and save people. And he just smiled at me and said 'Of course you will my little samurai' and you know what?" I pull my face away and stare up at Inuyasha with my red rimmed eyes, "I did."

"I think he is very proud of you Kagome," Inuyasha replies, his face completely serious.

"Yeah," I give him a watery smile, "I think he is too."

I pull back from him and he slides back off my bed and repositions himself on the floor.

"What about you? How old were you…" I trail off knowing he would understand what I was trying to ask.

Inuyasha turns his back to me and leans himself back against my bed. He doesn't answer and I feel like I have gone too far. I know he doesn't like to talk about his past but still, I figured since we were sharing stories here and I had just poured out my heart to him, the least he could to is reciprocate.

"I was 8," he says suddenly, breaking the stillness. "A demon had come looking to avenge a comrade that my father had killed. Of course, since he was dead, and since the demon didn't have prayer taking on Sesshomaru, it turned its attention to my mother and me. I was just learning how to fight and could defeat small demons on brute strength, but this one was beyond me. Mother heard that the demon was coming and took me and ran from the village that we had been living in, but eventually the demon found us. My mother told me to run and hide, that the demon was more likely after me than her, since I was the half demon son of the Great Dog Demon and she just a mere mortal. But like hell I was going to hide when she was in danger, so I stayed. The demon showed up and it didn't even pause, just ran right up to my mother and took her fucking head off. She never even had a fucking chance," he growls.

"I was still in shock when the demon turned on me. I think, now looking back on it, I almost transformed that night. I saw red, screamed and jumped at it, slashing with my claws. It was the first time I ever performed the 'iron reverse soul stealer'. I found out later that the reason the demon was after my father in the first place was because the demon believed that he had stolen my mother away from him."

He pauses and takes a deep breath, "I guess was in shock still and I tried to return to the village where we had been living but apparently the villagers only allowed me to stay before because of mother. They chased me out and I ended up fleeing for my life. So I had no choice but to learn to live on my own. I perfected my fighting skills and learned to stay far away from anything during the new moon. I roamed from town to town, trying to get by, living on the fringes of civilization. That was the way I lived till I met Kikyo when I was 17. She allowed me to adopt her village as my home base. I could roam wherever I wanted but I knew that I could always come back to her village and be welcomed."

It's the longest he has ever talked about his past before. I just stare at the back of his head drinking in every word. My heart clenches in my chest as he describes how he lived for so long on his own. I am suddenly very grateful that he met Kikyo. I imagine that Inuyasha would have turned out very different if he hadn't met the powerful miko.

He tilts his head back so that it is resting against my bed and closes his eyes. He has a thoughtful expression on his face but doesn't comment further on his past. I am just beginning to think that he is done talking when he speaks again.

"My mother, in my eyes at least, was the most amazing woman in the world. She was beautiful, everyone agreed on that, but they wondered how she could be seduced by a demon such as my father or agree to bear his child. She was kind, but strict, she didn't let me get away with anything. Since I was often ignored or picked on by the other children of the village, she became my best friend; playing games with me and teaching me how to defend myself."

He chuckles suddenly and still with his eyes closed asks me, "Remember that cold medicine I made you?"

"Yeah," I reply, "you said your mother taught you how to make that." I shudder remembering how awful it tasted.

"Yeah. The few times that I would get sick, it was always a warzone at our house. I was miserable but refused to take the medicine. There were several times that she had to hold me down and force feed it to me."

"She must have been pretty strong then." I say smiling. I can clearly picture a young Inuyasha throwing a fit about medicine.

"She was," he says, and by his tone I know he is not referring to physical strength.

I stare at the back of his head and without thinking about it I reach out with my left hand and gently rub his right ear. I am always shocked by how soft they are. I feel like they show the true nature of the hanyou sitting in front of me, the soft heart that he tries to hide behind his gruff exterior.

"Kagome," he whines.

"Sorry, sorry!" I say jerking my hand back, "I know you don't like it when I rub your ears, I just couldn't help myself."

"No, it's not that I don't like it, I do. It just brings up painful memories. You can keep doing it if you want."

Cautiously I reach forward again and begin stroking his ear. He sighs, a deep soul cleansing sigh and relaxes into the touch. Even going as far as to push his head further into my hand! I can't help the grin the sneaks it way up my face, but even though I am delighted by the fact that he is allowing this much physical contact between us since he is normally so standoffish when he isn't having to carry me or scoop me out of harm's way, I am now curious about these 'painful memories'.

'Was it something about his mother? Or worse! Something about Kikyou? Maybe this was something she used to do?' my mind shudders but I refuse to let my heart linger on that. Instead I do what I always do, grab the bull or hanyou I guess, by the horns/ears.

"You mentioned painful memories," I start quietly, not stopping my treatment of his ear, "Care to share?"

"Eh, maybe not so much painful, but sad," he says shrugging one shoulder. "It's another memory of my mother.

I release a breath that I didn't realize I was holding and switch to the other ear. This one is apparently more sensitive because he actually hums at the contact.

"Well?" I prompt, suddenly much more eager to hear about this now that I know it's not about Kikyou.

"This is how she would calm me down when I would wake up from night mares. She would sit next to me and rub my ears for however long it took me to go back to sleep. Oh, right there." He finishes with a moan, pressing his head even harder into my hand as I hit 'the spot'. His whole body goes kinda limp and I can't help but think how much like a dog he looks, all he needs is to have his tongue hanging out and a tail thumping the floor to complete the picture.

"My mother would have loved you," he says out of the blue.

I pause in my ministrations at that statement causing Inuyasha to whine and rub his head against my hand, asking me to continue. I pick up my rubbing again and he hums in the back of his throat.

"Really?" I question.

"Yeah. You are a lot like her. You are not afraid to speak your mind about stuff, your independent, and she would have loved to have had these subjugation beads. They would have been really helpful back when I was learning to walk. Apparently I couldn't stay still once I figured it out. I was three the first time she found me trying to climb a tree." He sniggers at the memory.

I want to question him further about his past since he seems to be willing to share but a yawn cuts through my thought process. Inuyasha opens his eyes and pulls himself away from my hand. He glances out the window frowning when he sees the position of the sun. I too, glance at the time; only I look at my bedside clock. I blink, sure that I am reading it wrong, but sure enough the numbers don't change.

"It's only six in the afternoon!" I exclaim. I feel like days have passed since I woke up this morning after spending the night in the hospital.

Inuyasha seems just as surprised as me, but right then he himself lets out a huge yawn and stretches his arms over his head. I hear several vertebrae pop and crack with the movement. I can't help but admire the way the muscles shift and bunch with stretch. As he turns back to look at me, only then do I notice how tired he looks. He is getting dark circles under his eyes and they are bloodshot.

"Inyuasha, when was the last time you slept?" I question, glaring at him.

He opens his mouth, I am sure to give me some smart ass reply, but I cut him off, "Slept more than two hours?" he shuts his mouth and looks away sheepish.

"Uh, three days ago?" he asks slash says. I recognize this meaning he doesn't really know.

"What! What were you doing the night before the demon attacked or even this morning when we got back?" I ask not believing that he stayed awake for that long just because he was worried about me.

"How could I sleep that night when the demon aura was so think you could practically cut it!" he snaps back at me, his anger sending him to his feet. "Hell, I'm impressed any of you all slept that night. Shippo and I were up all night twitching due to that aura. I thought we were going to be swarmed by demons at any moment.

"Secondly," he says, getting into his stride, "Do you really expect me to sleep when I am in my human form? Plus I didn't know what was going on with you and I was in a strange place. Then I didn't sleep this morning cause I wanted to be awake in case you needed something! So no, I have not slept in about three days plus I have trouble sleeping anyways cause I worry about you!" With each sentence he got louder so by the end he was shouting at me.

I open my mouth, close it then open it again before I manage to find words. "I'm sorry Inuyasha I didn't know," I murmur. "I didn't realize that you had gone through all that just for me."

He sighs, running a frustrated hand through his hair, before dropping back down to his knees beside me. He reaches out hesitatingly for my hand, gently grasping it. He stares at it for a moment, our hands clasped there together, so different. His which are large, rough and callused, testimony to his life of fighting and mine, small and delicate looking next to his. Finally he looks up at me. I gasp at the multitude of emotions that are running through those golden eyes. There is fear, worry, hope but most importantly love.

"As if I am just going to let you die Kagome. You know me better than that. I care too much," he whispers.

I feel tears spring to my eyes, but I am determined not to shed them.

"Plus," he continues now supporting a grin, "you still have got to find the rest of the jewel shards."

All my goodwill towards him vanishes in a puff a smoke.

"Oooo, Inuyasha! If it wasn't for the fact that you just saved my life I would S-word you right now till you fell through the floor!"

He chuckles at my enraged expression before pulling himself off the floor and repositioning himself in the corner of the room that faces the bed.

"Go to sleep Kagome. I know you have to be tired."

"What about you?" I ask, "Aren't you going to sleep as well?"

"I am going to sleep right here, where I always do when I am with you in this era."

I frown at him, thinking of all the possible pros and cons of this before I voice my decision.

"What?" he asks, eyeing me, not sure what I am frowning for.

"Inuyasha, come here," I say.

He looks at me oddly and grumbling about just getting comfortable gets back to his feet and walks over to me.

I sigh and motion with my left hand, "Get in."

He stares at me, apparently not comprehending what I am asking.

"Inuyasha get in the bed." I state more firmly this time.

"What?" he exclaims, looking from the space on the bed between me and the wall to me.

"Inuyasha you have not slept in days, you look awful and I am not letting you sleep on the hard floor. You need the sleep just as much as I do if not more. So I am willing to share my bed with you so you can get a good night's sleep."

"Wait, you want me to sleep with you?" he asks as his face goes adorably red at the thought.

I am rapidly losing patience with him, "Inuyasha just get your butt in the bed right now!" I shout at him. "Look, it's not like anything is going to happen. We are just going to get some much needed sleep, ok? No big deal, right?"

He still looks unsure but I give him my best 'you had better do what I say or I am going to sit you look' that I can muster. He groans and conceding defeat carefully climbs over me and onto the bed. I am thankful that I have queen size bed or this would be a lot more awkward. At least we have a little room that separates us now. I pull up the covers enough that he can get underneath them. He pauses and I watch as the blush becomes more prominent across his face. Cautiously he maneuvers himself underneath the sheets next to me, being extraordinarily careful not to touch me. He then pulls the covers back over both of us stopping at my shoulders. He settles himself down onto his side so that he is facing me and his back is towards the wall.

"There was that so hard," I murmur, sleep already beginning to take a hold of me.

"Feh."

I smile to myself and let myself begin to slip away into dream world.

"Good night Inuyasha," I tell him.

"Good night Kagome. Sweet dreams."

"You too," I whisper.

I notice a couple of things as I start to fall asleep. One is the deep sigh that issues from the hanyou lying next to me in bed as he finally gives in and relaxes. The second is the weight of an arm that hesitatingly settles across the small of my back.

Sweet dreams, indeed.

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**AN2:** Ok guys on your mark, get set, REVIEW!


	16. Recovering

**AN:** Hello everybody! I'm back! I once again apologize for taking so long to get an update out. But I am now done with college for the semester so I will have a lot of free time on my hands to write! Something that I am very much looking forward to. I would like to thank you all for being so patient with me. I know how frustrating it is when you are waiting for an author to update. Now that I have gotten my creative juices flowing once again I am hoping to update as quick as possible. The goal is 2 chapters a week but I'm not sure. I would like to have this story completed before I have to go back to school but we will just have to see.

Anyways, enough rambling! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

**Disclaimer:** See Chapter 1.

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**Healing Scars**

**Chapter 16: Recovering**

It had been a long two weeks since the attack by the bear demon. Kagome's back was healing but very slowly much to Kagome's displeasure. The cuts were about halfway healed and were scabbing over nicely. Kagome was finally able to sleep on her side instead of having to lay flat on her back, which made sleeping much easier for the both of them. Ever since that night that they had both opened up to each other about their past Inuyasha had been spending the nights in Kagome's bed.

After waking up that morning with Inuyasha curled protectively around Kagome and with her head tucked securely under his chin, both had tried to fight the inevitable when sleeping together, but still the results were the same. Every morning they would wake up snuggled up to each other in some fashion, usually with Inuyasha flat on his back and Kagome halfway draped over him, with her head resting on his chest. After the fourth evening in a row trying to position each other to where they weren't going to end up entangled in each other Kagome had finally lost her patience and pushed the very surprised hanyou onto his back and laid herself across his chest. Inuyasha had been so startled that he didn't move or speak for several minutes. In fact, it seemed as if he had stopped breathing completely. He finally took a cautious breath and asked her what she was doing. Inuyasha had been completely blown away when Kagome replied that she was just saving time since they seemed to end up like this anyways. Both of their faces had flamed fire rat red with that admission but neither could deny the next morning that it was the best night's rest either of them had had in a long time.

Now two weeks had past and Kagome felt like she was going to rip her hair out from boredom and stress. Inuyasha had developed into quite the mother hen and fussed over her constantly. Hardly letting her move the first few days that she was back and when she did move he carried her everywhere. To the bathroom, to the kitchen, to the family room, he never let her take one step without him being right there. Also he pestered her about making sure she ate right and was she too hot or too cold? Did she need anything? While it was sweet in a way, cause it was Inuyasha's way of showing how much he cared, to Kagome, who was a fairly independent person, it was enough to drive her up the wall.

Eventually her mother was able to talk some sense into the over exuberant hanyou and got him to back off a little before Kagome purified him. So instead of bothering her every minute of the day, he went back and forth between times to give the gang updates on how Kagome was doing and to give Kagome news on the happenings of the village and their friends. This usually kept Inuyasha out of the house for a couple of hours every day since he brought modern supplies to the Feudal Era and helped out Kaede with basic everyday chores, such as chopping fire wood and bringing water. Kagome was thankful for the respite but quickly found herself turning towards every outdoor noise hoping that it was Inuyasha returning. She was surprised at how quickly she missed Inuyasha, but after days of him being around her constantly and caring for her, she assumed that it was only natural to miss him.

But the itch for adventure was becoming more and more bothersome and nothing that any of her family did helped to ease it. Now that she was allowed on her feet, she found herself going through the motions of getting ready for another stay in the past. Packing clothes, checking and restocking medical supplies, and of course packing food and treats for the group. Kagome had tried a couple of times over the last couple of days to convince Inuyasha that she was ok to go back, but he had ganged up with her mother and between the two of them she could not get them to agree. So instead she took to bringing up the Feudal Era any chance she got in hopes of guilting Inuyasha into allowing her to go. She knew that sneaking out of the house was not an option since he pretty much attached himself to her hip when he was in the modern era.

The one good thing that came out of her being an invalid was that her bond with Inuyasha became stronger than ever. Besides sleeping next to him every night, the two of them had taken to long talks in the night when it was just them and the darkness. Their topics ranged far and wide, covering everything imaginable. Mostly though, they stayed on safe topics such as Kagome's school work, her friends, and what certain things in her world meant or do.

Once they got on the topic of the group and Kagome learned a lot about what Inuyasha thought of each member of the group and vice versa. They were surprised to learn that their opinions were very similar. Miroku was the clown, cracking jokes to keep the tension down, and while his "habits" were severely frowned upon, he was an excellent fighter, even without the wind tunnel. Sango, Inuyasha had said, was the one that he felt like he understood the most, since their motives for going after Naraku were very similar, plus she was a natural fighter and understood a lot of Inuyasha's attacks and strategies when they were in a battle. Though Inuyasha had grudgingly admitted that if it came down to it, he would be hard pressed to beat Sango in a fight. He then threatened her not to tell anyone ever cause he would never live it down. To Kagome, of course, Sango was the sister she didn't have, a person to confide in and "girl talk" with. Kagome was very surprised about Inuyasha's thoughts on Shippo. While she had always felt like Shippo's adoptive parent, she never realized that Inuyasha felt the same. And that was why Inuyasha disciplined Shippo, he was trying to teach him. Kagome hadn't really thought about it, but Shippo and Inuyasha had the most in common than any of them. Inuyasha's last thoughts before he abruptly changed the subject to something less embarrassing was that he didn't want Shippo growing up like he did.

But despite their enlightening conversations the pull to see their other friends and continue the quest to find the Shikon jewel shards and Naraku was becoming too strong for Kagome to ignore. Which is what led Kagome to be standing in doorway to her living room contemplating the best plan of attack to convince Inuyasha that she was healed enough to go back through the well. The hanyou in question was sprawled on the couch idly flipping through the TV channels.

'Men,' Kagome thought with a smile shaking her head as she observed the relaxed hanyou. In the year that she had known Inuyasha she had never seen him as care free as he did now. If it wasn't for the slightly twitching dog ears perched on his head, she would have thought that he belonged in her time.

"You know I have killed people for staring at me for less time than you have," came Inuyasha's voice, breaking Kagome out of her thoughts.

Kagome flushed, embarrassed that he had caught her looking at him, and walked towards the end of the couch where Inuyasha's head was laying. He hadn't turned his attention from the TV, where it seems he had settled on an old Kung Fu movie.

"Sorry I wasn't really staring at you, just got lost in thought." Kagome murmured, gently tracing the outline of one furry triangle of an ear, giggling quietly when it twitched under her touch. Inuyasha grumbled and flattened his ears to his head, out of Kagome's reach.

"Yeah right, you were just trying to figure out how to convince me that you can go back to my time, weren't you?" Inuyasha asked finally glancing up at her, pinning her with his intense golden gaze and a small smirk hovering about his lips, which turned into a full blown one at Kagome's silence.

"You're not healed yet. When you are, we can go back, but not till then," Inuyasha said, turning his gaze back to the fight scene on the TV.

"Aww, c'mon Inuyasha! I'm fine! Really I am! The cuts have scabbed over and my back barely hurts anymore!" Kagome whined. "Ok fine it still hurts a bit," she admitted with a grumble, when Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her.

"Nope not happening Kagome."

"But Inuyasha…" Kagome pouted, drawing out his name as long as she could and giving him the best puppy dog eyes that she could manage.

"Oi! What gives woman? Most of the time you are begging to stay longer, now you suddenly want to go back?"

"Because Inuyasha, we have been here for two weeks! I have just been sitting around the house, since you wouldn't let me go to school and I'm bored and I miss our friends! Besides I should be asking you that question! Why are you suddenly all fine and dandy with hanging out in my time? I figured as soon as I was able to walk around on my own, you would have whisked me off to the Feudal Era." She asked him, crossing her arms over her chest and lightly glaring down at Inuyasha.

To her surprise he flushed a light pink and turned his head back towards the TV. "I don't hate your time," Inuyasha muttered abruptly, "and the reason I'm not so keen about heading back right now is because I don't want to risk losing you again." Inuyasha's flush had turned into the dark red blush of embarrassment.

"Oh Inuyasha," Kagome sighed, "you can't protect me from everything. That's just not practical."

"But I'm supposed to Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, sitting up suddenly and facing her, anguish written across his face. "I'm your protector! If I lost you…" he trailed off, unable and unwilling to complete the thought.

"I know," Kagome murmured reaching out and brushing his bangs from his eyes, "but we have got to go back sometime. Mirkou, Sango, Shippo and Kaede need us.

"We'll go back," agreed Inuyasha, causing Kagome's heart to lift thinking that she had finally gotten through to him, "when you are healed," he finished, destroying Kagome's happy thoughts. But then Kagome hatched onto an idea.

"What if I promise to be very careful and not to put myself in harm's way?" she asked him putting on an innocent of an expression that she could manage, which was pretty innocent.

Inuyasha blinked up at Kagome, surprised. She saw him start to waver and turned the look on full force. Inuyasha swallowed heavily, his eyes darting down to her full pouting lips but then he jerked his gaze back up before Kagome could realize what he was looking at.

"You promise you won't do anything stupid or reckless? And that you will listen to me? If I tell you to run, you'll run and not ask questions?" Inuyasha asked, eyeing her carefully looking for any signs that she wasn't being honest with him. At her eager nod, Inuyasha sighed, and with lighting quick reflexes yanked Kagome over the arm of the sofa and draped her over him so that they were face to face. Kagome hadn't even had time to shout her surprise, before she found herself nose to nose with a very serious hanyou.

"You promise?" he whispered softly.

"I promise," she whispered back just as softly. Of course, she would have promised him anything right now as long as he kept her pinned against him like this. Kagome could feel every inch of his chiseled body pressed against her, from the firm lines of his chest to the defined muscles of his thighs. A deep sigh reverberated through the hanyou, drawing Kagome from her fantasies about Inuyasha's body.

"Fine, we'll leave tomorrow morning. Is that soon enough for you wench?" Inuyasha asked, his breath caressing her face. Kagome, too stunned by this willing display of affection from the normally recluse hanyou could only nod dumbly in agreement.

"Feh. Now lay there and be quiet. I want to see the end of this movie," Inuyasha said, tucking Kagome's head securely under his chin and draping his arms over her lower back, firmly holding her in place, as he once more fixated his eyes on the TV. Kagome, happily relaxed into his hold, molding her body to the hard planes of his and listening to the reassuring beats of Inuyasha's heart.

For several minutes there was hardly a sound except for the TV and their combined breathing. Eventually Kagome felt her eyes begin to droop and sleep start to steal over her. She tried valiantly to stay awake because the movie was fairly interesting but she also wanted to be able to enjoy every second of this moment where she had Inuyasha all to herself. Suddenly a deep rumble began in Inuyasha's chest, much like a purr but deeper, and a clawed hand came up and began to gently stroke her hair.

"Sleep Kagome, I'll protect you," Inuyasha murmured into her hair.

"I know," Kagome slurred, "I'm always safe with you."

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AN2: There ya go folks! Chapter 16! Please review and let me know what you think! Also I probably won't get another chapter out before the holidays so I want to wish everybody a wonderful Christmas!


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